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Full Show: A New Tool To Help Defendants Awaiting Trial (July 31, 2017)

We learn about Harris County’s new Public Safety Assessment tool, which helps judges decide whether to release or detain someone awaiting trial. Plus campus carry is about to expand to Texas community colleges.

Harris County judges have a new way to make better-informed decisions when it comes to defendants awaiting trial. Harris County Courts just started using the Public Safety Assessment tool. It helps judges decide whether to release or detain someone awaiting trial. On today’s edition of Houston Matters, we find out what that means for you when we speak with Kelvin Banks. He’s the Harris County Director of Pretrial Services. And we talk with Matt Alsdorf. He’s Vice President of Criminal Justice for the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, which developed this tool. Also this hour: the state’s junior colleges and two-year universities are preparing for campus carry to take effect for their schools on Tuesday (Aug. 1, 2017), exactly one year to the date that the same law went into effect for four-year colleges in Texas. Plus, a local pediatrician answers your questions about the health of your children. And we check in on the latest Houston sports news.